Family (In Progress)
by LeonaWriter
Summary: They'd expected to stay dead. No one had truly expected any of the Dark Signers to return. But sometimes impossible things happened, and they were called miracles - maybe, because a certain 'Dragon' had felt within them bonds that were as yet barely formed and with such potential that it couldn't simply leave things be, with its current Signers believing in such things so fiercely.
1. Chapter 1

_The universe is big, it's vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles. And that's the theory. Nine hundred years, never seen one yet, but this would do me. - _The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens.

...

At first, there was mainly confusion.

After all, none of them had expected to live past the end of their duels, and they had each clearly remembered dying for the second time, turning to dust in the wind.

Rex and Rudger, most of all. They'd been there since the beginning, they'd caused so much pain, they'd been so _alone_, and they had both thought, in the in-between, that perhaps now would be a good time to move on. Perhaps meet up with the people they'd left behind all those years ago. The boys were doing fine, weren't they? They didn't need two old men who couldn't even live their own lives without failing so spectacularly.

Besides. They didn't even know. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, especially if they never found out.

But apparently the universe had other ideas - or rather, one particular 'Crimson Dragon', which Rudger had spent so long fighting _against_ that it was odd to remember after all this time that it was a _good_ thing, that it wasn't going hurt him, or the others, and that yes, that 'feeling' he'd felt right before waking up had, in fact, felt like laughter.

Albeit the kind of laughter that shook the Earth and caused thunder in the skies, but laughter all the same.

He'd opened his eyes not to the brightness of heaven, but shining daylight, a blue sky, and the hard surface of a road. Looking down at himself, he noticed that his skin had returned to normal from the tan that he'd taken on while he'd been a Dark Signer.

He looked up and around in wonder at the world, his mind free and fully able, for once, to revel in the air he was breathing and the colours, the sights, the sounds - and the people.

Rex was looking around with an expression more similar to a dazed owl, blinking at everything... more specifically, in the direction of the Signers.

Rudger found his legs, stood, still feeling odd and somewhat lightheaded, and tentatively made his way over to his brother, to see what he saw.

Well, there was Yuusei, standing in the middle of the group, a red-headed girl berating him for something or other, two children standing nearby and talking excitedly, that Security officer that even now he remembered taking control of not once, but twice. And there, right among them...

He'd seen that red head before, he realised. During his duel against Yuusei, the boy had come from one of the other levels to cheer his friend on. Heady with power and god-given rage, he hadn't noticed his brother in the boy, especially at that sort of distance, with something like a duel to distract him.

He hadn't caught his name, but he was laughing, showing off his arm, and Rudger thought that perhaps he could feel some sort of... pride. Yes, that was it. And if he was, then Rex must be feeling something like it, too.

With a lazy smile, he let his eyes wander over the other one that seemed familiar, even though they'd only met once or twice in person, and even then without much time to talk.

A glance their way, the tilt of his chin, the bright gold of the blond that hadn't dulled with age yet... and he closed his eyes with a smile. He'd known that the boy must have survived somehow, deep in the back of his mind, but to think-! And for the past two years, he'd been living in Neo Domino. Away from Satellite. Away, and safe, from his father.

"Rex." His brother turned to him, still showing much of that same confusion in his wide eyes. "Thank you. For looking after him, when you could."

Rex shook himself, and then his head. "I didn't do nearly enough, even when I was sure. And to let things get like this..."

This time, it was Rudger's turn to shake his head in mild rebuke. "You did what you could, little brother. If I were in your place, I doubt that I could have done better."

Of the Dark Signers, the young Kiryu Kyousuke had awoken the closest after he had, looking out through a dimmed filter onto the world, likely remembering all that he had done. Rudger sighed at the sight; in many ways, this was entirely his fault, being that he'd been the one to release the gods in the first place. If he hadn't, then perhaps they would have been released some other way, but then these people wouldn't be affected, and it wouldn't be his fault. The boy might not have had any reason to become a Dark Signer in the first place, even if there had been another to take his place.

Carly, oddly enough, had run straight over to Jack, flailing and generally being confused.

Misty, Bommer and Demak were taking a little longer to come around, but there wasn't anything wrong, he was sure. He couldn't blame them for not wanting to face up to the reality of the consequences of their actions jut yet.

"He's grown so much, since I was last able to see him," Rudger said, taking a tentative, oh-so-hesitant half step forward before stopping altogether. The last time they'd met, he'd threatened him, and everyone he'd held dear, most likely... "He was so small," he continued, lost in memory as he watched the boy - no, the young man - interact with his friends. "Not even two years old."

Neither noticed a face watching them, legs still leaden and not wanting to move but eyes wide in disbelief at what their owner was hearing.

"Crow wasn't even that old," Rex reminded him, and he fought to keep the pang of guilt from overtaking him. He'd stolen those years from his brother as well as himself, he had to remember.

The figure on the ground opened their mouth almost experimentally, as though they weren't sure if it would still work. Opening and closing, they appeared somewhat like they were attempting to mimic a fish out of water.

"No... no, he would have been born a month or two later, wouldn't he..."

Rex nodded.

"I wasn't there." Rudger flinched, and didn't notice the odd sounds that the onlooker was now making. "He turned out well enough though, don't you think?"

"About as well as my Jack," he countered. "You know, it's amazing I didn't see it before, with how much he looks like me, but he has his mother's eyes..."

"And her name?" Rex added almost cheekily.

"_Wh.. wh... wha..."_ The person who had been unintentionally listening in on all of this was stuttering out, at first quietly and then gaining in volume, although not yet enough to make anyone think he was doing anything other than talk to himself.

"Wh.. What the... _WHAT THE HELL?!"_

Everyone turned to look at Kiryu, who was staring at both of the Godwins with an expression of complete disbelief.

"Kiryu, what-?"

And there was Yuusei, ready to offer help if it was going to be accepted.

"_WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"_

It seemed as though they'd been overheard. Rudger paled, and Rex sighed, closing his eyes as though in acceptance of his fate. Chatter intensified, and then petered out into silence. More or less.

"What? You didn't think it was _worth mentioning_ for _three YEARS _that I'd had your-" Kiryu seemed to struggle with the words, or to be more accurate, the _concept_ of what he was trying to say. "KIDS! Your _KIDS_ on my TEAM?!"

Yuusei's eyes widened in shock, knowing that he couldn't be the one that his friend meant, this revelation that had shocked the boy even past the depression and apathy, if only for the moment.

Jack and Crow, however, stared first at Kiryu, and then, at the ones Kiryu was staring _at_.

Rex and Rudger Godwin.

It didn't take a genius, with the changes Rudger had gone through in his revival, to see the connection between himself and the man before him. Crow, at least, had been stunned enough earlier on with the revelation that Rex was the Legendary D-Wheeler, the man who had built the Daedalus bridge, and what was being said now caused him to reach a numb point, unable to feel the pain of it any more. Perhaps it was thanks to this that he had the wherewithall to realise that it would be a good idea if Jack was _held back_.

Because if he wasn't - and there was Yuusei, helping him on Jack's other side - then Rudger, until recently a powerful Dark Signer, would get knocked out by one of his son's fists.

...

AN: Okay so I couldn't help myself and I just HAD to write this based on my own prompt (that I'd posted to Tumblr), but this is only the beginning. In fact, I really wanted something that would be _different _from my Daedalus Rising fic's version of events just during and after Rex's duel and the Dark Signers waking up.

And I also needed a reason why they'd 'tell' the boys so soon, so that there'd be more time for other things once everyone had come to terms with it.

Oh look, _we have a connection_. Because Kiryu's been around all of the ones involved for long enough, and he was sitting _right there_. Really, Godwins, be more careful with those 'secrets' you want to keep...


	2. Chapter 2

_"WHAT WAS THAT?!"_

Crow found himself struggling to hold Jack back, especially when Rudger, the damn _idiot_, wasn't moving.

_"HE SAID THAT AND HE WAS LOOKING AT YOU, YOU-" _

"Jack, _damn it_, calm DOWN!"

Jack paused just long enough to look incredulously down at Crow.

"And you- you're just... _accepting _this?!"

Crow snorted, still holding Jack's arm in a strong grip just in case he wanted to break loose and start causing trouble again.

"Hell no! Y'know, for _once_ I'm siding with _Kiryu_ again on something, because seriously, this is some totally messed up shit! But at least I'm not trying to _beat anyone up over it_."

Kiryu, having still been staring at the Godwins in a strange kind of mute horror, turned sharply to look at Crow when his name was mentioned, blinking. Jack stilled, but not out of calm. The tension was still there, as was the unreleased energy that was just begging for someone to say or do something stupid so that he'd have some kind of excuse to hit them.

"Jack," Yuusei said, imploring his friend to listen. "We won. They've only just come back to life. Now isn't the time for this kind of fight."

Jack shook both him and Yuusei off, but at least he didn't go after Rudger, instead just turning on his heel so that he didn't have to face them.

"Hn! He's still the one who started all of this in the first place! If it weren't for him..." Jack's fists clenched again. "None of this would have happened! I won't forgive him so easily!"

He then started to storm off, only held up by Carly running after him.

"Ah, Jack! W-wait, Jack, where're you going?"

Jack stopped almost mid-stride, and Crow sighed. _Sheesh..._

He wasn't taking it well. And that was putting it lightly. Crow, at least, could say he hadn't tried to beat either of them up, but then again there was the possibility that if he hadn't had to keep control of Jack... yea. He'd have been tempted to. He couldn't say he wasn't every bit as confused, upset and just plain _angry_ as Jack was.

He just knew that flying off the handle like that wasn't going to be helping _anyone_.

"_Home_," Jack gritted out, but Crow could tell there was a slight bit of hesitance to it.

Come to think, hadn't Jack been living in the city because of Godwin? Uh, _Rex_ Godwin. Who was apparently related to him in some way, if what Kiryu had said was anything to go by, and neither of them were denying it. Which was gonna be ten whole kinds of awkward, he could tell _that_ much now.

"You're free to return to the penthouse should you wish." Crow was caught between watching Rex Godwin, who was saying this with this odd look on his face, or Jack, who'd straightened with an odd noise. "As far as I am concerned, you were there due to my hospitality, rather than any status you held as Duel King, and recent developments should affect nothing."

He wasn't the only one caught not knowing where to look; they'd somehow gained a small audience. Misty, Bommer and Demak were now torn between curiosity and the uncomfortable feeling of having walked in on a private conversation and not being able to walk back out. Kiryu was still watching all of them in turn, eyes wide, and there was _something_ in his eyes, something that just made it seem like he was teetering on the edge of something, and this whole thing was only holding it off.

Yuusei appeared more worried than anything, trying to keep an eye on Jack to make sure he didn't do anything stupid again. Rua kept opening and closing his mouth, pointing at them like he was trying to put it all into words, but was kept from it by his sister. Aki had one hand over her mouth, the other over her heart.

Jack snorted, and continued to storm off. This time, no one stopped him, Carly flailing for a few moments but eventually running after him.

Rudger sighed, deflating from the solid stance he'd been in to face Jack's anger as Crow, eyes narrowed, crossed his arms.

"You two've got some explaining to do."

"Perhaps," Rex sighed, "it would be best to wait until he is also ready to listen."

"What, _Jack_? You've gotta be _kidding_ me! Even if he did get to that point, he'd never admit it! So stop trying... too..." He trailed off in barely concealed horror as he realised what he was going to say - _'Stop trying to avoid the point!'_. "Ahaha... it can't be... right...?"

"Uh, Crow-"

He could just ignore Kiryu for now. Sure, the mess wasn't his _fault_, exactly, but that didn't mean he knew if he'd be able to hold his temper if he talked to him right now, and he _wanted _to, damn it.

Rex was shaking his head.

"You have it," he said softly, "the wrong way around."

"Eh? What, I..."

Wrong... wrong way... then that'd make _Rudger_ Jack's old man, which'd make what just happened make more sense, sure, but then...

He looked up, shaking, unsure whether he wanted to hit the man in front of him - just once, it'd make him feel better - or run, or just sit down hard, because he was starting to feel like he might throw up.

He worked around it, though. Not just because he was _better_ than that, damn it, but because the others were all watching him, now, without Jack to take their attention off of him, and he could feel their eyes on him, watching, waiting for what he'd do next.

He was better than that.

He breathed out in a huff, looking away and to the side, away from them all. He had to set an example for the kids as well, right? What'd they think if they heard their big brother'd done something stupid like that, anyway?

"All of that... you _did all of that_. Both of you. _How?!"_

"Would you have rathered that I had been able to find you before your friends did?"

Crow opened his mouth to protest, but didn't know how to respond.

"Or how about if looking after you had caused me to hesitate when Security came at the bridge?"

"O- oi- that's not-"

"Fair? On who? You, for the idea that I might be manipulating your emotions, or me, for trying to find some way of convincing us that it was better this way?"

Crow was silenced, a lump forming in his throat - how could he argue, how? He hated it, but just couldn't find the words, and it was as though they were just stopping in his chest, welling up there.

"War makes monsters of us all, and although the battles were only fought recently, they were only the end result of many years' worth of fighting. That does not mean we had to enjoy being made monsters of."

"But you... you could've done _something_."

Crow expected him to just shake his head, remind him of what he'd said before, but he didn't. He inclined it, eyes closed.

"You're right. We could have. But what good would it have done?" _Something. Even if it wasn't big, something..._ "But we were given a second chance," Rex continued, looking back and up at his brother, Crow feeling more and more lost. "I can promise you this." He felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't have the heart to push it off. "We will do our very best to do well by it, and not waste this chance. We lost seventeen years because of something none of us had any true control over. Years that we can never retake. But, perhaps, we can start again."

He didn't know quite when the hand on his shoulder had become his face buried in the startled man's chest, and who _cared_ if he was getting his shirt wet. He could forget about the others for a while, and how they were probably staring, because right now, right here, this was _his_, and he couldn't help the tears he couldn't deny were coming from him.

Tears of shock, and frustration, and relief. Joy, and hope, and pain. The war was over, they'd lost everyone that mattered and regained them all so quickly, had their dreams broken and put back together again as though they were being played with like some kid's toy. He wanted this to be real, to work out, and he was scared that it wouldn't but he _couldn't_ let that get in his way, not when there was a _chance_.

He balled the one hand that wasn't curled up around his head on Rex's chest, and hit out, still holding on and not letting go.

_Why?_

Neither of them noticed as Kiryu and the others moved away to give them space, Kiryu himself getting intercepted by Yuusei.

_Why?!_

...

AN: ...okay I don't know whether that was okay or not but wow.

Firstly, a lot of what's in this and in _Daedalus_ is reversed, with Crow in mind. There are reasons. Jack, meanwhile... well. He's going to have a bit of bother, that's all.

As some of you might remember, in the duel just before the Dragon revived the Dark Signers, Rex had no shirt. However, in the vision Yuusei had while he was passing through the King of the Netherworld, he did! And Rudger was dressed as he had been before turning into a Dark Signer as well (lab coat etc.). So I decided to go with that.

Not least because imagining some of the latter parts of this with Rex having no shirt were just too damn _awkward_. And made me giggle too much.


End file.
